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Kettletown State Park
Nearby Parks:
Paugussett State Forest
Southford Falls State Park
Rocky Glen State Park
George C Waldo State Park
Indian Well State Park
Osborndale State Park
Huntington State Park
Naugatuck State Forest
Whittemore Glen State Park
Putnam Memorial State Park
Mattatuck State Forest
Sleeping Giant State Park
Wooster Mountain State Park
Black Rock State Park
Squantz Pond State Park
Pootatuck State Forest
Seth Pierrepont State Park
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| State Park Contact Information: |
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Kettletown State Park
492 Black Rock Turnpike
Redding, Connecticut 06896
Phone: 203-938-2285
Toll Free: 866-287-2757
Reservations: 203-264-5678
Email: dep.stateparks@po.state.ct.us
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| State Park Overview: |
| The cool waters of the Housatonic River make Kettletown State Park and Lake Zoar popular recreation destinations. |
| Nature of the Area: |
| The William Miller (blue blazed) Trail, to your right from the road heading to the Youth Group Camp Area, provides a good introduction to a variety of rocks. At the T in the trail, turn right. About 500 feet down the trail you will encounter a large, lumpy brown boulder at the edge of the trail. (Figure 1) This glacial erratic came from the northwest, from the Pomperaug Valley. Erratics are boulders left behind by the glaciers when they melted. They are sitting on bedrock different from the type of rock they are.
We know which way this erratic came from because it is a chunk of basalt, and the nearest basalt bedrock is found three miles to the northwest in Southbury. Also, outside the park glacial striations indicate a southeast movement of the ice. Striations are scratches left in exposed bedrock when ice with rocks frozen in the bottom of it moved over the exposed rock, gouging grooves. The boulder's roundness results from the wearing off of corners and edges during transport. Sometimes lava flows into water, causing the surface to solidify instantly, while the inside of the flow is still liquid. This results in blobs, which then break open, allowing the lava to flow a little farther, then form another blob. The result is pillow basalts, and it appears this boulder and several more a little farther along the trail are pillow basalts. At the time basalt was flowing into the valley, Connecticut was much farther south and much drier than it is now. But there were lakes here and there, especially during the monsoon season. For more information on how the basalts and sedimentary rocks of Connecticut formed, see the geology of Penwood State Park. This part of Connecticut is all metamorphic rocks (except for the Pomperaug Valley in Woodbury and Southbury). The rocks in western Connecticut have been changed from the rocks they originally were by high heat and pressure. The rocks of Kettletown were originally Iapetos ocean floor sediments, mixed with a few basalt flows. As Africa and Europe moved closer to North America the ocean crust was being forced under the continental crust and these sediments were scraped off, then squished by the collision of some microcontinent(s). The resulting heat and pressure changed the sediments and basalt to gneiss, schist, quartzite, marble, and amphibolite, all metamorphic rocks. Gneiss, schist and amphibolite occur in the park, although no schist outcrops were seen along the described trails. |
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| Camping: |
| Kettletown Campground offers 68 sites in both open and wooded settings. |
| History of the Area: |
| Kettletown State Park, situated in the towns of Southbury and Oxford, contains 605 acres and was originally inhabited by the Pootatuck Indians, members of the Algonquin group. Early colonists reportedly traded one brass kettle for use of the land for hunting and fishing. Eventually, the settlers acquired complete rights to the area and, by 1758, the Pootatucks had either migrated to the northwest or perished.
Although the Pootatucks were expert fisherman and hunters, their main occupation was farming. They raised fine crops of beans, squash, tobacco and apples. The Pootatucks developed a drum communications system which could carry a message over 200 miles in just two hours. All that remains now in the Kettletown area of this once prosperous tribe is an occasional arrowhead. In 1919, their original village was covered by the water of the Housatonic River when the Connecticut Light and Power Company constructed the Stevenson Dam to produce hydroelectric power. The resulting Lake Zoar is the fifth largest freshwater body in the state. The settlers who had used the land for dairy farming had deserted much of it as better farming land became available elsewhere.
The State of Connecticut purchased 455 of the 605 acres in Kettletown in 1950 with funds left by Edward Carrington of New Haven, which he had dedicated to the acquisition of public land in the Naugatuck Valley.
Much has happened to Kettletown since the arrival of the early settlers. Today it exists in a more natural state for all to enjoy. |
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| Related Links: |
| Kettletown State Park Information - The cool waters of the Housatonic River make Connecticut's Kettletown State Park and Lake Zoar popular recreation destinations. ... the Housatonic River make Kettletown State Park and Lake Zoar ... | | CT State Parks and Forests - Hiking and Camping Maps - Links to hiking and camping maps for Connecticut's State Parks and Forests ... A. Minetto State Park Kent Falls State Park (330 K) Kettletown State Park and Campground (412 K) (288 K) Lake Waramaug ... | | KettleTown State Park - Back ] [ Up ] [ Next ] KettleTown State Park May 27, 2000 | | Korean American Actuarial Society - ... Send your update to address@koreanactuary.org (posted 8/22/03) The summer picnic was held at Kettletown State Park in Southbury, CT on August 2, 2003. (posted 8/22/03) The June meeting was held at ... | | Lodging in CT Accommodations at Longwood Country Inn in the Antiques Center of Connecticut - A newly renovated country inn located in Woodbury, Connecticut, renowned for its fine antiques shops ... quassapaug,quassy,mattatuck museum,kettletown state park,southford falls,warner theatre ... | | Waterbury Region Convention and Visitors Bureau - ... center of Quaker Farms and follow Barry Road to Kettletown State Park. Legend says this area gets its name because the property ... and camping. To reach Kettletown State Park and the access to ... | | Waterbury Region Convention and Visitors Bureau - Swimming: Hop Brook State Park, Route 63, Middlebury Kettletown State Park, Georges Hill Road, Oxford Northfield Dam, Route 254, Thomaston Black Rock State Park, Watertown Road, Thomaston ... | | Area Fishing Related Businesses | | Valley Angler
56 Padanaram Rd
Danbury, CT
(203) 792-8324
| Candlewood Bait & Tackle Co
2 Germantown Rd
Danbury, CT
(203) 743-2221
| Bill's Bait & Tackle
117 Old Town Park Rd
New Milford, CT
(860) 354-9066
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| | Area Resorts and Lodging | | Doric Lodge
865 E Main St
Bridgeport, CT
(203) 333-7385
| Sheraton
18 Old Ridgebury Road
Danbury, CT
(203) 794-0600
| A Tres Jolie Day Spa LLC
522 Heritage Rd
Southbury, CT
(203) 264-0515
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| Directions: |
| Off Interstate 84: take Exit 15. Go south onto CT Route 67. Take a right at the first traffic light onto Kettletown Road. Continue for approximately 3 miles on Kettletown Road. Take a right onto Georges Hill Road. Park is located on the left approximately 0.6 miles. |
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